Israeli forces quell West Bank student protest over denial of access to education

Israeli forces suppressed a student protest Sunday in the village of Umm al-Kheir in the Masafer Yatta area of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank, where students have been denied access to their school, Palestinian media reported.

Khalil al-Hathaleen, a local education official, told the official news agency Wafa that Israeli forces, accompanied by police dogs, blocked a protest organized by the education directorate with participation from residents to oppose the denial of 51 students’ access to education.

The students have been prevented by Israeli forces from reaching their school for the seventh consecutive day.

Masafer Yatta has seen an increase in violations targeting schools and students, including the harassment of teachers and threats of arrest, as part of efforts to restrict education in the area.

In a separate development, Israeli authorities resumed home demolitions in the village of Al-Sir in the Negev, with bulldozers operating under police and special unit protection, citing “unlicensed construction,” according to the same report.

Israel demolished about 320 of 350 homes in the village in December 2025, displacing hundreds of families who now live in harsh humanitarian conditions with limited access to basic services, the agency said.

Demolitions are continuing in phases, with dozens of homes razed in repeated campaigns, including about 40 homes in a single operation, amid heavy police presence and use of force against residents, the broadcaster added.

Palestinian, Israeli, and international human rights organizations say that Israeli authorities use permit restrictions to limit Palestinian construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where obtaining building permits is nearly impossible, while illegal settlement construction continues.

Violence by Israeli occupiers and Israeli forces has escalated in the West Bank since October 2023, killing more than 1,149 Palestinians, wounding about 11,750 others and leading to nearly 22,000 arrests.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul